


Blonde Champion

by Draconic_Noble



Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen, Mild Mental Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-04
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-09-21 21:18:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9566771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Draconic_Noble/pseuds/Draconic_Noble
Summary: Yang gets introspective while staring at her prosthetic. Her life soon ensues.





	

**Author's Note:**

> The song that I use in this fanfiction is We Are The Champions, and I by no means own it nor am I profiting from the use of it. Keep your legal hounds away from me.

Yang stared at the prosthetic. The prosthetic did not stare back. It was a gift, and an incredible one at that. But did she deserve it? Unbidden, memories of what brought her here came to mind.

 

‘ _I’ve paid my dues’_

Ruby was Yang’s priority. Ever since  ~~ mom ~~ Summer died, it had to be so.

 

‘ _Time after time’_

Someone had to look after her. A depressed dad and an oft gone uncle simply wouldn’t do.

 

‘ _I’ve done my sentence’_

As a result, Ruby admired her with unwavering fervor. The only time it threatened to wane was--

 

‘ _But committed no crime’_

“ **My leg!”**

 

“Yang Xiao Long, stand down!” The memories surged, washing over Yang like the waves of the ocean.  Of the arrest, the talk with Ironwood afterwards. Staying in her room trying not to throw up while Qrow harped on at her.

 

‘ _ And bad mistakes’ _

The battle that soon ensued, trying desperately to find Ruby. Trusting Weiss to look for and after her. This led to one scene in particular, as it usually did.

 

‘ _I’ve made a few’_

“Get away from her!” The charge that seemed so reckless later, after her arm was severed. She would’ve done it the same way, given the choice.

 

‘ _I’ve had my share of sand kicked in my face’_

The man who did it. He was Blake’s former partner, he had to be. No one else could’ve been so cruel. No one else terrified Yang more.

 

‘ _But I’ve come through!’_

But that didn’t mean that Yang could just cower at home, waiting for the world to pass her by. She was Yang Xiao Long, and the world would tremble at her roar!

 

‘ _And we need to go on, and on, and on, and on!’_

That’s what Yang told herself anyway, to keep from crumbling. From the weight of her loss, the expectations of others, the knowledge that life was nothing like a fairy tale.  It’s how the old Yang would’ve responded. So Yang put on the prosthetic,  because what else could she do?

 

‘ _ We are the champions’ _

S he started training with her father, Taiyang.  He was unrelenting, but never unfair. It hurt, that the arm seemed to be necessary for this, but that could be addressed later. Like many things.

 

‘ _My friends’_

Yang could feel the underlying tension in him, that likely stemmed from not knowing where his other daughter was. Yang could relate, since on the days she could feel, that was a main source of emotion. Wondering how Ruby was doing on her self-imposed mission,  what Weiss’ home life was like after the fall of Beacon, why Blake--

 

‘ _And we’ll keep on fighting’_

But she couldn’t think about Blake. Not if she wanted to avoid the spiral.  So Yang continued training  in an attempt to numb the pain.

 

‘ _Till the end’_

Even if ignoring the buildup inside of her was going to kill her,  if it continued to go u n a d d re s sed.

 

‘ _ We are the champions’ _

But not all the days were bad. There were the days where she could feel, and it didn’t hurt. Where her existence was a joy, not a burden.  They never lasted, but the break they provided was bliss.

 

‘ _ **We are the champions’**_

So Yang took the days as they came,  paying no more mind to them then she had to. Not to friends.

 

‘ _No time for losers’_

Not to enemies, nor the masses who believed her to be a monster. The voices that seemed to decry her daily.

 

‘ _Cause we are the champions’_

She remembered a piece of advice Taiyang had given her on one of the worst days, where apathy and flashbacks had come one after the other.  _ “I know this is hard Yang. But you’ve gotta remember it won’t always be this bad. It’ll get better. You just have to keep fighting, and time will do the rest.” _ Some days the advice tasted bitter, and felt like mockery.

 

‘ _Of the world’_

But one day, Yang would be able to take on the world again. If she misjudged, she could fall back on new supports, and old. Then her enemies would know fear, and she would know satisfaction.

 

* * *

 

‘ _I’ve taken my bows’_

The fall of beacon was years ago, but what happened there never truly left Yang. It was naive to ever believe that it would go. You just don’t forget that kind of trauma.

 

‘ _And my curtain calls’_

Of course, Yang was one of only two people who knew what happened, so it was only natural that few understood. Blake (and now it didn’t hurt to think of her did it) was the only one who understood, not just the incident, but Yang herself. Ruby tried, but it didn’t help that Yang was remarkably closed off.

 

‘ _You’ve brought me fame and fortune and everything that goes with it’_

Which mostly left the masses, none of whom thought of what Yang lost. Weiss had certainly tried to clear Yang’s name, publicly declaring her a hero on a channel that none would miss. There was even testimonial from the redeemed thief, Emerald, that Yang had been innocent in the whole debacle. There would always be the people simply filled with hate.

 

‘ _I thank you all’_

Yang honestly would’ve preferred to fade out of existence. She would’ve had the best of company for that endeavor.

 

‘ _But it’s been no bed of roses’_

Catching up to Blake was one of the hardest times of Yang’s life. Blake hadn’t wanted any of her friends to be hurt by being around her (that hadn’t stopped Sun, although he paid for it). With Adam being omnipresent in both their minds, it seemed an impossibility that they would ever meet again.

 

‘ _No pleasure cruise’_

Not to mention the oceans between them. Both physical and metaphorical. Without a way to communicate with Blake, she might as well of pointed randomly at a map, and gone there.

 

‘ _I consider it a challenge before the whole human race’_

Not that impossible odds had ever stopped Yang before. Although the means to her ends was delivered into her lap, rather then hard won. Weiss was an unexpected, but quite welcome arrival. When asked, her reasoning was that if there was anywhere a Faunus would go to find peace, that place was Menagerie.

 

‘ _And I ain’t gonna lose!’_

Armed with that knowledge and a good dog, Yang had set off for what was to be a very harrowing journey. Grimm love negative emotions, and Yang was a maelstrom of negativity. Which was good, since Yang needed an outlet for those feelings, and venting like that on humans was first degree murder.

 

‘ _And we need to go on and on and on and on’_

Blake was less then amused to find that another blonde friend had followed her to Menagerie. Given that she was in the middle of a trying battle, there wasn’t much room to complain. (Sun whined a little about the disparity of treatment, and Blake snarked that Yang was more help in a fight. That brought a smile to Yang’s lips.)

 

‘ _We are the champions’_

Because Yang had arrived, serious injuries had been averted, for Blake and her family. Ghira decided he liked Yang much better then Sun (mock indignation was forthcoming), and Kali asked how she came to be there. More formal introductions had to wait, since Adam chose to arrive.

 

‘ _My friends’_

He looked fiercer, but less in control. This suited Yang, though it quickly became apparent she wasn’t the reason for his nerves. Ghira raised his voice in anger, and Adam actually flinched.

 

‘ _And we’ll keep on fighting’_

The hostility would’ve erupted into violence, had it not been preceded by the arrival of  a pair of twins . They spoke with silver tongues, clearly trying to divert attention. Yang was not certain what they’re game was, but the look in their eyes was anything but friendly. The distraction would’ve proved effective, if the strangers’ ace had not proven herself  a traitor.

 

‘ _Till the end’_

A bright orange figure darted into view, whipping some kind of weapon forward, (a pistol with an extending chain on the end? Ruby would’ve loved that) crackling with energy.  She yelled for Blake to run, as her weapon was met with a twin’s hand, who couldn’t care less about the usual effects of electricity.  Yang rolled her eyes at the impending cliches, and dragged the girl away from imminent beheading.

 

‘ _We are the champions’_

Escaping had been much easier then expected. Once their odd group made it into a more public space, the White Fang agents couldn’t operate directly, or else risk losing support from Menagerie, and thus all the faunus. (Yang suspected Adam would’ve pursued anyway, if not for those twins.)

 

 

‘ _ **We are the champions’**_

By a stroke of good fortune, the boat Yang had arrived on had not yet departed. The fact that it was in the process of departing was not much of a deterrent for a group of Aura trained individuals such as themselves. They likely made quite the spectacle, a human girl with a robotic arm, a girl with rapidly fluctuating skin color, a bare chested monkey faunus, the chieftain alongside his family, and a corgi, all running full tilt towards a departing boat that was unaware of it’s impending outpouring of relevance.

 

‘ _No time for losers’_

Adam caught up just in time to watch  Sun cheekily wave at him from the boat. His impotent rage literally glowed at the edge of the pier. Before long, he was merely a speck on the horizon, and then no more.

 

‘ _Cause we are the champions’_

Ghira soon called them to a semi-private space, to explain to him precisely what was going on. Blake and Yang (with a few insolent interjections from Sun) did their best to fill him in, but it was Ilia, the chroma-shifter,  who was able to provide the most succinct and informative synopsis. Upon learning of the state the White Fang was in, Ghira declared he would simply have to matters into his own hands. He would make sure that the White Fang didn’t irreparably tarnish the faunus people’s image.

 

‘ _Of the world-’_

Ghira gave them a clear dismissal with a “I need more time to ponder what you’ve told me.” After promising to talk to Ilia later, and shooing off Sun, Blake finally turned to face Yang. The two of them stood there for a few minutes, before Blake finally said-

 

‘ _We are the champions my friends’_

“Yang?”

Yang blinked. She hadn’t meant to get so engrossed in her musings. Now Blake had a concerned look on her face. Remembering just where Yang had been staring, it wasn’t hard to guess why.

 

‘ _And we’ll keep on fighting’_

“I’m fine,” Yang said. At Blake’s skeptical look she went on, “No really, I am. I was thinking about some things, and I guess I got a little caught up in it.” A bit of a weak line, but it might hold.

 

“Was it a painful trip?” Blake chided Yang lightly. No dice on that one.

 

“I was thinking about Menagerie again,” Yang let out a sigh. Blake really could read Yang like a book.

 

“The first time or,” Blake paused looking more worried. “Last time?”

 

‘ _Till the end’_

“The first time!” Yang hastily replied. The less said about their last visit to Menagerie, the better.

 

‘ _We are the champions’_

“That’s a relief,” Blake slipped into one of those little grins. “Still good for the battle?” Yang adopted her cockiest grin.

 

“Like hell I’m gonna miss this one!” Yang punched her fists together. “I’ve still got your number beat, and I’m not one to let mine fall behind just because of a little whimsy!”

 

‘ _ **We are the champions’**_

“Get moving lazy butts!” Nora shouted at them. “You’ll miss the BEST. FIGHT. EVER!” 

 

“Better do as she says,” Blake quipped. “Although it’s not like you can beat her number. It’s gotten insanely large.”

 

“That sounds like a challenge to me!” Yang retorted. “And a Xiao Long never backs down from a challenge!”

 

“We’d better get moving then,” Blake started to run. “Wouldn’t do for you to have to eat your words!”

 

‘ _No time for losers’_

They met up with the main party right at the crest of a hill. From there, they could all see the hoard of Grimm milling about. Somewhere in that mass, was Salem. Preparing to unleash a Change upon the world. It was the biggest and toughest looking group of Grimm any of them had seen before.

 

‘ _Cause we are the champions’_

But they were the toughest group of hunters these Grimm would ever see. Yang took a moment to study Ruby. She’d really grown into her role as leader, easily dwarfing her partner beside her. This didn’t stop Weiss from looking downright regal, she made up for her height in an aura of power few could match. Turning to Blake now, Yang noted how proudly her ears fluttered in the breeze. Nothing could keep them under an oppressive state now.

 

The rest of the group was almost as impressive. Nora, fiercely baring her hammer and her teeth, Ren, calmly surveying the Grimm beside her. Sun, having long since forgone any kind of shirt. Nickel, who was still essentially Penny, but preferred the jokingly applied nickname.  Velvet, who was nervously fidgeting with her box, and Coco, suave as ever. Neo, an unexpected and not entirely wanted ally. Jaune, who was… well, still Jaune. They made an impressive sight on that hill.

 

“Ready, little sis?” Yang called out to Ruby.

 

“More then I’ll ever be!” Ruby called back. “On three everybody! Three!” Yang hoped ~~Summer~~ Mom was watching. She would definitely be proud.

 

“FOR PYRRHA!” Nora screamed. The twelve hunter team charged down the hill, straight towards their destiny.

**Author's Note:**

> Well! This took a lot longer then I expected. First fully fledged fanfic, so please tell me what you think!


End file.
